Leicester Tigers sent flying Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo off to Australia with a win on his 43rd and final appearance for the club, with a nervy bonus point victory.
Leicester Tigers Head Coach Steve Borthwick was full of admiration for Nadolo after the game, though he will not be feeling so generous about how his team let slip a 26-7 lead to make this game much tighter than it should have been.
First half tries from Julian Montoya, Richard Wigglesworth, Harry Potter and Tommy Reffell ensured that Leicester had earned a try-scoring bonus point before the 30-minute mark, with Jasper Wiese a second-half tryscorer. However, in response, Irish also came away with a try bonus-point, thanks to tries from Api Ratuniyarawa, Matt Rogerson, Ollie Hassell-Collins and a Penalty Try.
Tigers welcomed back Argentina captain Julian Montoya and Welsh flanker Tommy Reffell from International duty into the Starting line-up, with fellow Internationals Joe Heyes, Jasper Wiese, Guy Porter and Ollie Chessum all selected to be on the bench.
Irish themselves welcomed back captain Matt Rogerson into the starting line-up with a pacy back three of Tom Parton, Ben Loader and Ollie Hassell-Collins all looking threatening throughout the afternoon.
Tigers, making their first league appearance on home territory since the defeat to Sale Sharks in the first week of October, were looking to restart their league campaign after their last-minute defeat to Bath a fortnight ago. A tough opening period had seen the Champions only play two of their first seven fixtures at home, combined with an enforced lay-off due to the plights of Wasps and Worcester.
In front of a 20,000 plus crowd at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, it was Leicester who made the bright start, with Montoya burrowing over from close range in the 4th minute after Tigers’ forward pressure from their lineout. Tigers fly-half Freddie Burns converted the kick.
Irish responded a few minutes later with Api Ratuniyarawa initially being held up by physical tryline defence by Leicester, after several good drives. But then the powerful second row got his reward in the 14th minute with another surging run drawing his side level.
Tigers however were not to be deterred. Almost instantly they earned a penalty in the Irish 22. A kick to the corner from Freddie Burns set up a catch and drive from the lineout, with veteran scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth using all of his experience to scamper up the touchline to score from close-range. A prolonged TMO check made the crowd sweat, as the grounding needed to be checked before referee Andrew Woodthorpe raised his arm to signal a try, however Burns did miss his conversion kick.
Leicester went into the game in 7th position, needing a win to put themselves back within striking distance of the Top 4, stretched their lead in the 23rd minute with Harry Potter sliding over after an excellent through kick from fellow centre Matt Scott. Burns converted the kick to put the East Midlands side 19-7 up, taking the 32-year-old to 1500 Premiership points in the process. The bonus point was wrapped up within half an hour as Reffell helped himself to a try after more good work from the forwards had seen them camp out on the Irish tryline. Burns adding the extras.
Irish were not to be undone as they struck back in the 35th minute, with a penalty try caused by Tigers backrow forward Olly Cracknell collapsing an enterprising drive to the line. Cracknell earned himself a spell in the sin-bin for his troubles, with the home-side going in at half-time 26-14 up.
The Exiles were the first to draw blood in the second half as they earned a series of penalties through Leicester’s poor discipline. A five metre lineout drive saw Irish power up to the Tigers tryline, with captain Matt Rogerson scoring from close-range. If that had not silenced the crowd, then the next try definitely did, with Hassell-Collins sprinting 80 yards to score, taking the teams level as a result.
Roared on by the home crowd, Tigers made sure the next try was theirs. Powerhouse South African Jasper Wiese took Leicester back into the lead with a customary powerful drive from close range. Tigers had been knocking on the door through multiple phases, and were not to be denied as the game entered the final quarter.
An enthralling game took another twist in the 60th minute. Hassell-Collins exploited a couple of mistakes in the Tigers defence to power up the left wing, before an enterprising kick through took his side into the Leicester 22. From there, the Exiles were once again clinical with backrow Tom Parton bursting through weak tackles to power over the tryline. To the relief of Tigers, Paddy Jackson missed the conversion, as the home-side maintained a narrow 33-31 lead.
Tigers tried extending their lead through the boot of Burns, however a failed drop attempt in the 65th minute and a missed long-range attempt at a penalty three minutes later saw the scores stay the same as the clock ticked past the 70 minute mark.
Tigers finally saw the game out after numerous phases in the Irish sending the home fans home relieved if not entirely happy. Tigers finished the afternoon in 5th position, only two points behind local rivals Northampton Saints, with the visitors still stuck to the bottom. For Nadolo, the popular figure went with the crowd singing his praises.